MCEA: Maine Taxpayers Spent Big Money On Lawn Signs, Political Mail

Through the Maine Clean Elections system, Maine taxpayers spent over $3 million in a variety of categories on political campaigns in the 2016 election cycle.

This is the first of a three part series exploring the use of taxpayer funding through the Maine Clean Elections System in the 2016 election cycle.

A Maine Examiner analysis of Maine Clean Elections spending by taxpayer funded candidates for the Maine Legislature shows spending habits by candidates lean heavily toward two types of expenditures Maine voters regularly express disdain for – political mailings and lawn signs.

Of the more than $3.2 million spent by taxpayer funded candidates for the Maine Legislature, more than 68% of the funds were spent in categories for political mailings and printing of lawn signs, t-shirts and literature.

Candidates for the Maine House spent $414,000 on “Mail House” services; $96,000 on postage and post office box fees and $544,000 on “Printing and graphics flyers, signs, palmcards, t-shirts, etc.”

Candidates for the Maine Senate spent $654,000 on “Mail House” services; $153,000 on “postage and post office box fees” and just under $1 million on “Printing and graphics flyers, signs, palmcards, t-shirts, etc.”

Total spending in these three categories reached a staggering $2.2 million in the 2016 campaign, dwarfing other categories of spending, such as website design and hosting ($93k), print media advertising ($219K), radio ads ($157k) and television ads ($177k).

Taxpayer funding of political campaigns is often supported by more liberal voters because they feel it is better for taxpayers to fund campaigns than private donors, while more conservative voters often deride the program as ‘welfare for politicians’, saying they should raise their own campaign funds and that the funds spent on campaigns should go to other, more worthy programs.

ALL TAXPAYER FUNDED MCEA MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE EXPENDITURE CATEGORIES

CATEGORY (SENATE MCEA EXPENDITURES)	AMOUNT
CAMPAIGN CONSULTANTS	$26,842
CAMPAIGN WORKER’S SALARIES AND PERSONNEL COSTS	$38,272
CONTRIBUTION TO OTHER CANDIDATE, PARTY, COMMITTEE	$0
DEBT PAYMENT	$17,300
EQUIPMENT (OFFICE MACHINES, FURNITURE, CELL PHONES, ETC.)	$3,758
FOOD FOR CAMPAIGN EVENTS, VOLUNTEERS	$10,448
FUNDRAISING EVENTS	$523
MAIL HOUSE (ALL SERVICES PURCHASED)	$654,331
OFFICE SUPPLIES, PHONE AND INTERNET SERVICES, RENT AND UTILITIES	$13,127
OTHER (BANK FEES, ENTRANCE FEES, SMALL TOOLS, WOOD, ETC.)	$31,472
OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES	$30,340
PHONE BANKS, AUTOMATED TELEPHONE CALLS	$4,590
POLLING AND SURVEY RESEARCH	$7,242
POSTAGE FOR U.S. MAIL AND MAIL BOX FEES	$56,855
PRINT MEDIA ADS ONLY (NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, ETC.)	$124,377
PRINTING AND GRAPHICS (FLYERS, SIGNS, PALMCARDS, T-SHIRTS, ETC.)	$450,119
RADIO ADS, PRODUCTION COSTS	$127,392
TRAVEL (FUEL, MILEAGE, LODGING, ETC.)	$29,639
TV OR CABLE ADS, PRODUCTION COSTS	$149,554
WEBSITE DESIGN, REGISTRATION, HOSTING, MAINTENANCE, ETC.	$71,758
TOTAL	$1,847,940

ALL TAXPAYER FUNDED MCEA MAINE HOUSE CANDIDATE EXPENDITURE CATEGORIES

CATEGORY (HOUSE MCEA EXPENDITURES)	AMOUNT
CAMPAIGN CONSULTANTS	$16,353
CAMPAIGN WORKER’S SALARIES AND PERSONNEL COSTS	$6,073
CONTRIBUTION TO OTHER CANDIDATE, PARTY, COMMITTEE	$129
DEBT PAYMENT	$11,458
EQUIPMENT (OFFICE MACHINES, FURNITURE, CELL PHONES, ETC.)	$6,690
FOOD FOR CAMPAIGN EVENTS, VOLUNTEERS	$13,477
FUNDRAISING EVENTS	$412
MAIL HOUSE (ALL SERVICES PURCHASED)	$413,996
OFFICE SUPPLIES, PHONE AND INTERNET SERVICES, RENT AND UTILITIES	$27,571
OTHER (BANK FEES, ENTRANCE FEES, SMALL TOOLS, WOOD, ETC.)	$24,072
OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES	$18,341
PHONE BANKS, AUTOMATED TELEPHONE CALLS	$1,300
POLLING AND SURVEY RESEARCH	$28
POSTAGE FOR U.S. MAIL AND MAIL BOX FEES	$95,714
PRINT MEDIA ADS ONLY (NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, ETC.)	$94,170
PRINTING AND GRAPHICS (FLYERS, SIGNS, PALMCARDS, T-SHIRTS, ETC.)	$543,902
RADIO ADS, PRODUCTION COSTS	$29,518
TRAVEL (FUEL, MILEAGE, LODGING, ETC.)	$28,084
TV OR CABLE ADS, PRODUCTION COSTS	$27,777
WEBSITE DESIGN, REGISTRATION, HOSTING, MAINTENANCE, ETC.	$21,671
TOTAL	$1,380,746